Taking Insurance from Good to Great in Nigeria and Africa

Even with insurance as a risk management mechanism that has been tested over centuries, we have learnt that diverse concepts and methods, when harnessed into digitized solutions, hold the potential to deliver the core promise of insurance to users - peace of mind! This advancement in technology brings a wave of optimism for the future of insurance services.

Whether the insurance offerings and services are designed as General (Motor, Building, Marine, Aviation, Energy, Agriculture, Cyber, etc.), Life, Credit, Actuarial, Health, Pension, Takaful, Microinsurance, Annuity, Insurtech, or Reinsurance, the one thing that YOU, the insurance buyers, look forward to is that great feeling of fulfilment!

Your decision to buy insurance was or would be, rewarded by excellent service, especially in the claims management process. This is the work we must let insurance do for us.

To move insurance from the good it delivers to some of us now to the great impact it can make in the lives of hundreds of millions of Nigerians and billions of Africans would require more than EXPECTING INSURANCE COMPANIES TO BE INNOVATIVE, PAY CLAIMS PROMPTLY AND INVEST IN THE ENVIRONMENT. 

The culture of interconnectedness in this digital age empowers us to collaborate towards a common purpose, in this case, a safe and secure livelihood through insurance. Your active participation in this collaborative effort can make a significant difference.

It is good to have infrastructural developments like roads and bridges, airports, ports, hospitals, buildings, power, recreation centres, etc. However, it would be better to know that these developments have been fully insured against damages and losses resulting from accidents and deliberate acts of unpatriotic persons or terrorism.

 No one appreciates the destruction of lives and properties, even in times of war, which probably explains why war is excluded from any insurance contract.

The best you expect from your insurer will begin to happen when you are aware of the benefits promised by the insurance policy you bought and, importantly, you ascertain that the conditions for fulfilling the promise exist or are in place.

After all, in everyday life, whoever promises to do something will be seen and trusted to deliver based on either their track record or current capacity.

Nigeria's insurance industry can be great when the promises made today are met, and confidence grows between buyers and sellers, reintegrating the corporate ecosystem we all share.

At such a time, the level of believability would have been so high that the fear of disappointment often present in our insurance conversations today would have diminished. 

Greatness is not procured off the shelf but acquired through repeated positive actions and consistent communication with stakeholders using easy and friendly language.

Here are a few tips to consider as we move towards greatness for the insurance industry in Nigeria:

1. Believe that you can get the best and keep searching and comparing until you are satisfied. Don't accept "you know this is Nigeria”.

2. Appreciate that insurance is globally defined though locally regulated. So, whatever insurance coverage you need but is unavailable in Nigeria can be arranged and later domesticated, and

3. Insurance has become affordable, accessible, and largely automated by more customer-centric operators led by young and bold entrepreneurial-minded professionals!

As a policyholder, you will be as great as your insurer, broker, or agent. Together, we can make insurance work for us in Nigeria, which is what we should do. There is greatness in those whose promises are fulfilled.